


in media res

by quietdays



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, can i write something proper please thanks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 00:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16460066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietdays/pseuds/quietdays
Summary: or five stories i'm too tired to continue. five stories before or during a relationship butnever everthe after of one. flash fiction but not actually flash fiction.i. the beginning (or how jihoon met jeonghan)ii. three is better than none (gag trio + test of courage)iii. angels are sleeping (joshua, jihoon, a rooftop. the quietdays cliche)iv. coffee and cream and a little bit of sugar (seokmin, jihoon, and no longer accepting the word no. the cusp between friends and becoming lovers.)v. the bass, the guitar, the cadence (some introspective seungcheol bullshit you've come to love and know from me.)





	in media res

**Author's Note:**

> hey i havent been in the mood to write like complete stories so this is the best thing i was able to vomit. stories that have the potential to be long and in depth but im actually not not not not not not ready to write whether it be because i dont have time, energy or the creative prowess for it. feel free to steal if you wanna but please do like... tell & credit me if you did because i wanna read.
> 
> uhhhhh why do i write a lot of jihoon. hes so fun to write about.
> 
> anyways see ya

**I. the beginning**

There is a special place in hell for people that doesn’t quite understand how the world works—no, rather, people who understands how the world works but would not like to adapt to it, choosing instead to forcibly ram their way into making things into the way they want it to be.

Lee Jihoon does not like that kind of person. Which begs the question: why is Yoon Jeonghan an insufferable piece of—

(No, no more bad thoughts ‘Hoonie. You promised your therapist you won’t do that anymore!)

But Yoon Jeonghan makes it so _so_ easy that it’s almost laughable.

Yoon Jeonghan with his easy going smile and his eyes that scream “I know you better than you do!”, that insufferable slouch he has—his—his—( _god he looks so cute)_ this is why Lee Jihoon hates psych majors with all of his entire being, they look pretty, act pretty, sit pretty but they’re all a bunch of demons in disguises who wants to claw your heart out.   _But_ , because Lee Jihoon is a good—no the _bestest_ friend ever, he’s going to shut up and smile his way out of this situation because he _did_ promise his _best best why am I friends with this guy_ friend that he’ll help them with their music project.

Lee Jihoon forces a smile and the abyss pities him.

**II. three is better than none**

Seungkwan doesn’t do well in the dark.

He’s skittish, easily influenced, believes in things that go _bump bump_ in the dark—he can barely even finish a horror movie alone, let alone go through a test of courage alone. So to answer the question “Why are you, Boo Seungkwan, resident horror anti, going to go do a test of courage?”—Seungkwan doesn’t exactly also know what to answer that.

_But—_

“Seungkwan-ah! Hurry up!” A brightly colored boy calls out to him, beside him is a taller but softer colored boy grins out to him. “We’re gonna be last in line at this point and that’s no fun!”

“You heard him ‘kwannie!” Seokmin’s grin easily turns slightly chesire but it’s still a cute look on him. “You don’t want to _not_ see ‘soonie over here get easily frightened by something like flickering lights!”

“ _Yah!_ ”

Seungkwan shakes his head, the beginning of a smile on his lips, he doesn’t get it but real smiles are easy to come upon when he’s with them. Smiles and laughing becomes a hundred times easier and a thousand times more fun when he’s around Seokmin and Soonyoung.

“You better not both cry for me when we actually get inside!” Seungkwan banters along, squishing himself in between Soonyoung and Seokmin. He takes their arms in his and they walk in step and tune towards the booth. “And if you both two get nightmares later tonight, don’t say I didn’t tell you!”

Seokmin and Soonyoung protest playfully and Seungkwan tries his best to hide the biggest smile he’s had that night. The test of courage looks scary—a thousand times scary and he hasn’t even been inside yet, but the thing is—maybe he can stand it for these two stupid boys.

(He was wrong. He was _so so so so so so_ wrong. He couldn’t stand it for his stupid boys and the moment that white lady came up to surprise them, Seungkwan has never run so quickly in his life. The strong lives while the weak dies.

They all end up getting nightmares and end up having to sleep in Seokmin’s bed for at _least_ one week so it’s not that bad at all.)

**III. angels are sleeping**

He finds him like this: on the roof top of their dormitory, with a far too thin sweater that can’t possibly be doing anything to battle Seoul winter nights (and he’s right, he can already see pale skin becoming far too red, he can already hear teeth chattering, he can already see frost setting on top of his skin), looking at the rest of the world as if it were his enemy.

(Maybe it is.)

Joshua sighs and approaches him, fuzzy electric blanket on his right hand and thermos of black coffee and two cups on the other. He drops the blanket on the younger one, surprising him greatly, as he stands beside him. He doesn’t need the blanket, because unlike him—he’s actually smart enough to dress for the right weather.

“You didn’t eat dinner.” Joshua simply says. Jihoon splutters. The older one sighs and he opens the thermos and pours it out on a cup for him. “Coffee?”

Jihoon looks at him weirdly before snuggling into the blanket a little bit deeper. “Maybe later.”

“It’s black. You gotta warm up your insides too, you know that right?” Joshua offers once again. When Jihoon shakes his head, he shrugs and takes the coffee for himself. “Tell me if you want one and I’ll pour you another.”

Jihoon stays silent. Joshua drinks his coffee. Together they look at the rest of the world.

**IV. coffee and cream and a little bit of sugar**

Seokmin isn’t stupid.

He acts stupid, plays stupid, _seems_ stupid but he’s the farthest thing away from being stupid. He’s not as emotionally intelligent as Jeonghan and Seungkwan is or even the “ _right_ ” kind of intelligent like Wonwoo is but—

He’s not stupid.

He has empathy. He can feel things. He has _eyes_ for god’s sakes.

So no, Lee Jihoon doesn’t get to do this to him.

No, Lee Jihoon doesn’t get to brush this topic away.

No, Lee Jihoon is going to _sit_ right in front of him and they’re going to talk about their feelings, about all the misunderstandings over a cup of coffee with a bit of milk and the tiniest bit of sugar. Lee Jihoon doesn’t get to say _no_. Doesn’t get to tell Seokmin that they can do this another day, he won’t get to subtly try and misdirect him or anything like that.

Lee Jihoon doesn’t get to run away right now. They’ll talk, get to the bottom of this, and _maybe_ just _maybe_ all parties will get to walk away with a warm belly filled with coffee and a warm heart filled with love.

Lee Seokmin is _tired_ of being put aside and treated like he’s stupid. Lee Seokmin has waited enough and if he’s ever learned _anything_ from Yoon Jeonghan, it’s that sometimes the best defense is offense.

**V. the bass, the guitar, the cadence**

Seungcheol tries his best to not rely on fate a lot. He’s more of a do-and-you-get kind of guy—more of a make your dreams into a reality, run for the highest mountain to see the best kind of sights kind of guy—the thought of fate excites him and some days the naïve kind of guy in him believes that it exists, but the pragmatic guy in him tells him that nothing is ever going to just fully drop in your lap. You gotta assemble the mecha if you want to enjoy the mecha.

So he does that. He tries to assemble the mecha that is called his dreams and some days he fails, and other days he succeeds. How does that one song go? Life is like a wheel?

Seungcheol believes in love as well. Believes that it’s the end all, be all, you gotta have this if you want to be truly happy. Believes that there’s someone out there that can complete him and all that stuff. His soulmate is out there he just needs to find them.

 _But,_ the thing is—Seungcheol _also_ has two hands. And there are two boys he likes with all his heart and all his soul. He’s already made peace with that revelation about him—he likes two boys, big deal? So what? It’s not like the both of them will even spare a glance at him—

And that’s the thing. They won’t. Joshua and Jeonghan already have their hands full with each other. They have easy smiles, little sighs and eyes that know each other to the barest part of the soul—how on earth can Seungcheol disrupt that? Where would he even fit in all of that?

He’s okay with it. It’s fine.

He’s all right with only listening to the strumming of guitar and the plucking of the bass. Never been happier.

(But a tiny part of him, the only part that hasn’t been tainted by pragmatics, soothes his soul—tells him that fate will find a way. That since he’s already given up, fate will take over and lead him right and Seungcheol dares to hope.)

(See, look at it this way. The guitar strums, the bass supports—but who leads them?

Jeonghan and Joshua looks at Seungcheol with earnest longing eyes and under the covers they hold each other, thinking of the day they can get Seungcheol all for themselves. It’s easy to fall for the same boy but it’s harder to get that boy to like two people at the same time.)

**Author's Note:**

> @sebountin


End file.
